Search results matching tags 'People' and 'Conferences'http://sqlblog.com/search/SearchResults.aspx?o=DateDescending&tag=People,Conferences&orTags=0Search results matching tags 'People' and 'Conferences'en-USCommunityServer 2.1 SP2 (Build: 61129.1)Come See Me. I'll Probably Be Just Down the Street Soon!http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2012/07/31/come-see-me-i-ll-probably-be-just-down-the-street-soon.aspxTue, 31 Jul 2012 18:02:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:44524KKline<p style="line-height:19px;">Even though I've recently changed jobs, I'll still be speaking at a lot of SQL events across the country and internationally. &nbsp;There are still a few trips that I've yet to finalize, in particular with the fine folks in Houston, run by my friend Nancy Hidy (<a title="Nancy Hidy-Wilson's Blog" href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-admin/nancyhidywilson.wordpress.com">blog</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a title="Nancy Hidy-Wilson's Twitter Feed" href="http://twitter.com/nancyhidywilson">twitter</a>), and my friends in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, run by my friend Mark Ginnebaugh (<a title="Mark Ginnebaugh's Blog" href="http://www.designmind.com/blog">blog</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a title="Mark Ginnebaugh's Twitter Feed" href="http://twitter.com/markginnebaugh">twitter</a>). &nbsp;Also, do to some missed deadlines, it looks like I won't be speaking at the Nordic SQL Rally this fall. My bad! &nbsp;On the other hand, you can see when checking my roster, that I hardly have time to catch my breath with this travel schedule.</p><p style="line-height:19px;">I'll also be doing several on-line events with the&nbsp;<a title="PASS Professional Development Virtual Chapter" href="http://prof-dev.sqlpass.org/">PASS Professional Development Virtual Chapter</a>, run by Mark Caldwell (<a title="Mark Caldwell's Blog" href="http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/markc">blog</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a title="Mark &quot;Ajarn&quot; Caldwell's Twitter Feed" href="http://twitter.com/ajarnmark">twitter</a>), through out the year.</p><p style="line-height:19px;">Here's what's on the docket up through the start of the holiday season:</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">New York City</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline Speaks at SQL Saturday 158 in NYC" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/158/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday 158</a>, August 4</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">The Colorado User Group Tour</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;">&nbsp;<a title="Boulder SQL Server user group" href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/boulder-sql-server-users-group">Boulder PASS user group meeting</a>, August 14</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Colorado Springs SQL Server User Group" href="http://www.springssql.sqlpass.org/">Colorado Springs PASS user group meeting</a>, August 15 (Register here for&nbsp;<a title="Registration for the Colorado Springs, CO user group meeting" href="http://kevinklinesprings.eventbrite.com/">Colorado Springs PASS user group meeting</a>).</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Denver, CO PASS user group" href="http://denver.sqlpass.org/">Denver PASS user group meeting</a>, August 16</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;">Comatose, August 17 (Not an actual city in CO).</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">&nbsp;Orlando</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline Teaches SQL Server Performance Tuning" href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3895236758?ref=ebtn">SQL Saturday Performance Tuning Pre-Con</a>, September 28</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline Speaks at SQL Saturday 151" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/151/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday 151</a>, September 29</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">Online</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="SSWUG Fall vConference" href="http://www.vconferenceonline.com/event/home.aspx?id=661">SSWUG 2012 Fall vConference</a>, Oct 2-4, (Please register using code 'VCKEVIN'. I will personally hug you, virtually.)</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">Lincoln</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline's Real World Database Configuration and Tuning Full-Day Seminar" href="http://sqlsat165kevinkline.eventbrite.com/">SQL Saturday Performance Tuning Pre-Con</a>, October 5</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline Speaks at SQL Saturday 165 in Lincoln, NE" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday 165</a>, October 6</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">Cedar Rapids</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="East Iowa SQL Server User Group" href="http://www.380pass.org/">East Iowa PASS user group meeting</a>, Oct 8 TBD</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Quad Cities Iowa SQL Server User Group" href="http://qcpass.sqlpass.org/">Quad City PASS user group meeting</a>, Oct 9 TBD</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">Nashville (Go Titans!)</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Leadership for IT Pros Full Day Seminar" href="http://www.eventbrite.com/event/3834146034?utm_source=eb_email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=new_eventv2&amp;utm_term=eventname_text">SQL Saturday Leadership Skills for IT Pros Pre-Con</a>, October 12</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="Kevin Kline Speaks at SQL Saturday 146 in Nashville" href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/145/eventhome.aspx">SQL Saturday 145</a>, October 13</p><h2 style="line-height:19px;">Seattle</h2><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a title="SQL Connections and Dev Connections Events" href="http://devconnections.com/shows/fall2012/default.aspx?s=191">SQL Connections</a>, Las Vegas, Nov 1-4</p><p style="line-height:19px;padding-left:30px;"><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2012/">PASS Summit 2012</a>, Seattle, Nov 6-9</p><p style="line-height:19px;">&nbsp;Let me know if you're nearby and if you're coming to any of these events. &nbsp;I'd enjoy seeing you personally and getting a chance to shake your hand!</p><p style="line-height:19px;">Hope to see you soon,</p><p style="line-height:19px;">-Kevin</p><p style="line-height:19px;">-<a title="Kevin E. Kline's Twitter Feed" href="http://twitter.com/kekline">Follow me on Twitter!</a></p><p style="line-height:19px;">-More content at&nbsp;<a title="Kevin Kline's Professional Blog" href="http://kevinekline.com/">http://KevinEKline.com</a></p>For Devs - Component Code Challenge and INETA Community Champshttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2012/02/15/for-devs-component-code-challenge-and-ineta-community-champs.aspxWed, 15 Feb 2012 17:25:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:41760KKline<p>Two quick notes from our friends over at <a title="INETA" href="http://www.ineta.org/">INETA</a>: </p><h2>Component Code Challenge</h2><p>Ever had these two distinct thoughts - "I have a good idea for an application, however what can I get for it?" and "I would love to go to a big conference DevConnections or Tech·Ed, but how would I pay for it?". Haven't we all had thoughts like that at some time or another?</p><p>Well, you are in luck. The INETA Component Code Challenge for 2012 will send one lucky winner to their choice of those aforementioned conferences for slinging some serious code. All you need to do is create an application using 2 approved controls from 2 approved vendors, create a video talking about your application, and submit it to their judging panel. The judging panel consists of Bill Reiss (<a title="Bill Reiss' Blog" href="http://www.billreiss.com/">blog </a>| <a title="Bill Reiss' Twitter" href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-admin/twitter.com/billreiss">twitter</a>), Nikita Polyakov (<a title="Nikita Polyakov's Blog" href="http://www.nikitapolyakov.com/">blog </a>| <a title="Nikita Polyakov's Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/NikitaP">twitter</a>), Matt Hidinger (<a title="Matt Hidinger's Blog" href="http://www.matthidinger.com/">blog </a>| <a title="Matt Hidinger's Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/matthidinger">twitter</a>), and Greg Leonardo (<a title="Greg Leonardo's Blog" href="http://www.gregleonardo.com/">blog </a>| <a title="Greg Leonardo's Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/gleonardo">twitter</a>) are on the lookout for innovation and creativity in the use of approved controls. To read official rules <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=5zk9pfcab&amp;et=1109184118196&amp;s=20890&amp;e=001WOH0c-l0oLSFcYkoltMgOy337P27mW8NCxdLUBZnQjXgPeUULkSw0D87CT1BPPiPLnK-y8IW3QZOWQpqCN4x7e77kAVypp8alVRTLPtcHYI9jlqPfukafJPtKANKfATTgXDupJYmlI-jrPUktKSwYA==" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p><p>Grab your computer and Visual Studio and GET YOUR CODE ON!</p><p>Fine Print: INETA covers one conference ticket, hotel, and travel to the conference as is outlined in INETA's travel policy. Please visit the site for additional rules.</p><h2>INETA Community Champs</h2><p><img style="width:137px;height:125px;" id="yiv609180220ChampionsLogo" class="alignright" title="Champs Logo" alt="Champs Logo" align="right" src="http://www.ineta.org/images/CommunityChampionsSmall.jpg" width="137" height="125">Are you a hardworking community builder in the coding world? Then INETA wants to know about you! Check out the latest round of INETA Community Champ nominations. According to INETA:</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span><em>The mission of the Community Champs program to recognize and thank those members of our community that make it all possible. The first quarter is flying by, so this is your friendly reminder that you should submit your entries for Community Champs. Are there any "Rock Stars" in your community who should get a "thank you" for their hard work be sure to let us know. The <strong>deadline for submissions is March 31</strong>, so what are you waiting for go to <a href="http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=5zk9pfcab&amp;et=1109184118196&amp;s=20890&amp;e=001WOH0c-l0oLR-qmojaGUyazcasMhEnbPEAUb-frkZjGAip1k4-KKsvh5oY0HkXoLjfChBKoYhdgSRcBgUsrqgdgCfkYE9ZyWhplC2ZdhyG5PHyD8uR2gJYQ==" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span>http://www.inetachamps.com</span></a>. If you have any questions about the program feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:noram.champs@ineta.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span>noram.champs@ineta.org</span></a>.</em></span></p><p>Enjoy,</p><p>-Kev<br> <a title="C'mon, you know you want to!" href="http://twitter.com/kekline">Follow me on Twitter</a></p>PASS Summit 2011, Day 3 - A Tribute to Wayne Snyderhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2011/10/14/pass-summit-2011-day-3-a-tribute-to-wayne-snyder.aspxFri, 14 Oct 2011 18:51:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:39047KKline<p style="text-align:center;"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/sqlpass/images/0671_low.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="Wayne Snyder" alt="" src="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/events/sqlpass/images/0671_low.jpg" width="373" height="557"><br> </a>First things first, Wayne Snyder is rolling off the board of directors for PASS this year. We'd worked together, shoulder to shoulder along with Joe Webb (<a href="http://webbtechsolutions.com/" target="_blank">blog</a> | @<a href="http://twitter.com/joewebb" target="_blank">joewebb</a>) and other outstanding members of the SQL Server community, for many years of on the PASS board of directors and I'm certain that my tenure on the board and as president of the organization would've been nothing but trouble had Wayne not been there, covering my blind side(s), at every turn. Here's my tribute to Wayne Snyder:</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span>If you were to mention “Wayne Snyder” to me, I’d instantly start to grin and, probably, nod a little bit. Wayne is the kind of leader who always comes to mind with overpowering and emotional warmth. Sometimes when you visualize a memory of a person, you see them in your mind’s eye stooped over a console deep in thought or pontificating at a meeting somewhere deep in corporate America. But when I recall Wayne, I always see an image of Wayne smiling with his arms out wide as if he’s going to wrap you in the biggest, most comforting, Southern-fried, big brother hug you’ve had all year. And that image is loaded with all kinds of deep positive connotations: supportive, enthusiastic, sincere offer you thoughtful conversation, honest convictions, and straight answers. </span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span>To use an analogy, some leaders are only the “thermostat” of their organization – they set the temperature for everyone else. But Wayne was also the “thermometer” as well – he showed what temperature at which our organization was running. And that temperature is <em>warm</em>. As a PASS member, you knew within a heartbeat that it was ok to give a shout-out back to the speaker in a crowded auditorium, that there were no stupid questions, that it was ok to be the one who knew the least in the room because, in fact, <em>he </em>was the guy who knew the least in the room once and here he was to help you become the one who knew the <em>most</em> in the room! I honestly can’t count the number of people who Wayne recruited into the ranks of PASS simply by being Wayne.</span></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><span>Thank you, Wayne, for your many years of service to our community. And thank you most of all for acting as the wellspring of our communities exuberant, uplifting, and just plain fun attitude of embodied in our motto of “Learn. Grow. Share”. No one does it better than you.</span></p><p>Now, it goes without saying that Dr. Dewitt's keynote is one of the singlemost anticipated sessions of the entire event. Why? As Dr. Dewitt mentions himself, the hallmark of his sessions are a semester of graduate school IT learning distilled into one hour of awesomeness. There are lots of great resources discussing NoSQL on the internet (and I've pointed out a lot of them in the past). But who wouldn't rather leapfrog months of on-the-side research learning about NoSQL by enjoying Dr. Dewitt's keynote? Watch the streaming video at this <a title="Livestreaming SQLPASS keynote" href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2011/Live/LiveStreaming/LiveStreamingFriday.aspx" target="_blank">SQLPASS link</a>.</p><p>And if you're here at the PASS Summit on Day 3, I hope to see you in my two sessions this afternoon:</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><strong><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2011/Speakers/CallForSpeakers/SessionDetail.aspx?sid=2006" target="_blank">Crash! Boom! Bang! 10 Ways to Blow Up Castle SQL Server and the Techniques that Catch Them</a></strong> (DBA-318)<br> <em>Enterprise Database, Administration and Deployment, </em>Regular Session (75 minutes) in 3AB</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><strong><a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/2011/Speakers/CallForSpeakers/SessionDetail.aspx?sid=1509" target="_blank">Are you a Linchpin? Career management lessons to help you become indispensible. </a></strong> (PD-200)<br> <em>Professional Development, </em>Regular Session (75 minutes) in 4C4</p><p> Follow me on <a title="C'mon. You know you want to." href="http://twitter.com/kekline" target="_blank">Twitter</a>!</p>Here, There, and Everywhere; Speaking in Fall 2011, Part 1http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2011/09/02/here-there-and-everywhere-speaking-in-fall-2011-part-1.aspxFri, 02 Sep 2011 19:33:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:38234KKline<br>The last quarter of the year is usually my busiest due to the fantastic PASS Summit and SQLBits events. The fall looks a little different ... <strong><em>BECAUSE IT WILL BE EVEN BUSIER!</em></strong> Here's a rundown of where I'll be this fall through mid-October:
&nbsp;
<h3><a href="http://sqlcon.net"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/sqlcon_de_02-300x106.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-1780 aligncenter" style="border:1px solid black;margin:5px;" title="sqlcon_de_02" alt="" height="106" width="300"></a></h3>
<h3>BASTA! SQLCON.NET</h3>
<h4>September 26 to 29; Mainz, Germany</h4>
<p>
This <a href="http://sqlcon.net" title="Basta!">big developer and admin conference</a> runs from September 26 to 29 in Mainz, Germany. I'll be delivering at least one session and hobnobbing with Quest customers, friends, and in a very weird twist, my oldest daughter Emily, who will be in the Rhineland at the exact same time on a graduation present I'd been planning for her since graduation in June.
</p>
<p style="text-align:center;">&nbsp;<a href="http://www.sqlbits.com"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/SQLBitsLogo-300x101.png" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-1781" style="border:1px solid black;margin:5px;" title="SQLBitsLogo" alt="SQLBitsLogo" height="101" width="300" align="left"></a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>SQLBits - Query Across the Mercy
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</h3>
<h4>September 29 to October 1; Liverpool, United Kingdom</h4>
<p>
One of my favorite conferences of the year! The organizers are great. The speakers are great! The attendees are great!! The venues are great!!! The lunches are ... um ... adequate. I'm doing all an new session on <a href="http://kevinekline.com/slides/understanding-and-preventing-sql-injection-attacks/" title="SQL Injection Attack" target="_blank">SQL Injection attack</a>, this time with LOTS of demos kindly written by an attendee at one of my sessions in Cologne. He like the session so much, he decided to build demos to go along with it. (Thanks again, Volker!)
And if you've attended before, you know how much fun our now traditional <a href="http://kevinekline.com/2011/04/18/and-the-winner-of-the-sqlbits8-pub-quiz-is-drumroll-please/" title="And the Winner is...?" target="_blank">IT Horror Stories and IT Bingo Trivia</a> sessions are. Make plans to attend these standing-room only sessions, before the fire marshal kicks us all out of the room for overfilling it.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<a href="http://www.sqlpass.org"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/PASS-2011-Badge.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-1782 alignleft" style="border:1px solid black;margin:5px;" title="PASS 2011 Badge" alt="" height="171" width="307"></a>
<br><h3>The PASS Summit</h3><p>
Seriously. This is the one. If you can attend only one SQL Server training and community event in a given year, this is the one. Over 150 sessions and pre-conference seminars. Most everyone who is on the list of "who's who" in the world of SQL Server and Microsoft-related data management and development will be in attendance. And a large number of the Microsoft R&amp;D team that builds, documents, and supports SQL Server will also be there.
</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><i>Plus, more details to come on these events: <a href="http://sqlzaterdag.nl/" title="Netherlands SQL Saturday" target="_blank">Netherlands SQL Saturday</a>, <a href="http://www.sqlserverdays.be/" title="Belgium SQL Server Days" target="_blank">Belgium SQL Server Day</a>s, and <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/sqlrally/2011/nordic/" title="PASS SQLRally Nordic" target="_blank">SQLRally Nordic</a>.
&nbsp;
</i></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>I hope to see you there in person!
</p><p>-Kevin
</p><p>-Follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/kekline" title="C'mon. You know you want to!">Twitter</a>!</p>Cloud Evolving, SQL Server Respondinghttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2011/02/02/cloud-evolving-sql-server-responding.aspxWed, 02 Feb 2011 17:49:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:33131KKline
<p><br><a href="http://searchsqlserver.com"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/TechTarget.gif" class="size-full wp-image-1520" title="TechTarget" alt="" height="104" width="102"></a>
</p>
<p>Brent Ozar (<a href="http://brentozar.com/" title="One of the few, the proud, the MCMs" target="_blank">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/brento" title="Tro-lo-lo with BrentO" target="_blank">twitter</a>) and I did an interview with TechTarget’s Brendan Cournoyer at last summer's Tech-Ed, which as turned into a podcast titled “Cloud efforts advance, SQL Server evolves.” The podcast covers all the major trends at the conference (like BI), virtualization features in Quest’s products (like Spotlight), Brent’s new book and MCM certification, and more.
Here’s a link to hear it, appearing on 6/11/10: <a href="http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/podcast/Cloud-efforts-advance-SQL-Server-evolves">http://searchsqlserver.techtarget.com/podcast/Cloud-efforts-advance-SQL-Server-evolves.</a></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<div>
<p><span style="border-collapse:separate;font-family:Tahoma;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><font face="Arial">Enjoy!</font></span></p>
<p><span style="border-collapse:separate;font-family:Tahoma;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><font face="Arial">-Kev</font></span></p>
<div><span style="border-collapse:separate;font-family:Tahoma;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><font face="Arial">&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/kekline" target="_blank" title="C'mon. You know you want to!">Twitter at kekline</a></font></span></div></div><div><span style="border-collapse:separate;font-family:Tahoma;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;font-weight:normal;letter-spacing:normal;line-height:normal;orphans:2;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;white-space:normal;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;font-size:medium;"><font face="Arial">&nbsp;More content at<span>&nbsp;</span><a href="http://kevinekline.com/">http://KevinEKline.com</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;</font></span></div>See You in St Louis, and then London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and York, UKhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2010/09/07/see-you-in-st-louis-and-then-london-amsterdam-copenhagen-stockholm-and-york-uk.aspxTue, 07 Sep 2010 23:55:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:28610KKline<div>
Good grief, there's a lot of travel in my future. &lt;sigh ... deep breath&gt; It'll be exhausting and it'll be hard to lose so much time with the family. But if I'm able to avoid travel mishaps, it'll be fun.
<h2><em> </em>
<em><em><a href="http://www.stlssug.org/images/home-pic1.jpg"><img src="http://www.stlssug.org/images/home-pic1.jpg" class=" " alt="" width="360" height="276"></a></em></em><em></em></h2>
<p>&nbsp;</p><h2><em>Meet Me In St. Louis</em></h2>
I'll be speaking in St. Louis, MO on Tuesday, September 14th for their mid-day meeting. The details, as I have them, are:
<p style="padding-left:30px;"><strong>Tuesday, September 14, 2010 1-4pm</strong>
</p><p style="padding-left:30px;">Location: Microsoft St. Louis Office, Three City Place Drive, Suite 1100, St. Louis, MO 63141
</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/northcentral/stlouis.mspx">http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/usaoffices/northcentral/stlouis.mspx</a>
</p><p style="padding-left:30px;">Parking is in the garage behind / next to the building. There is an entrance to the building from the 2nd floor in the garage.
<a href="http://www.stlssug.org/docs/2010_September_14_Meeting_Announcement.doc"></a></p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><a href="http://www.stlssug.org/docs/2010_September_14_Meeting_Announcement.doc">Additional details and instructions on how to log in</a>
</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><b>Speaker</b>: Kevin Kline, Quest Software
<b>Topic</b>: SQL Server Internals and Architecture
</p><p style="padding-left:30px;"><b>Speaker</b>: Kevin Kline, Quest Software
<b>Topic</b>: SQL Statement Tuning with Query Optimizer Strategies</p><div>
I'll be giving away free t-shirts, posters, an eBook or three, and backrubs (super-models, only).
</div><div>&nbsp;</div><h2><em>SQL Bits, On the Cheap</em></h2><div>
<a href="http://sqlbits.com/information/Pricing.aspx"><img src="http://www.livingtravel.com/europe/england/yorkshire_northeast/York8.jpg" class=" " title="York Cathedral a.k.a. &quot;York Minster&quot;" alt="" width="305" height="500"></a></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>I’ve tweeted previously about the <a href="http://sqlbits.com/" title="SQLBits" target="_blank">SQL Bits conference</a> in York on September 30th – October 2nd, but this is my first blog post about it. Now is the time to settle your plans to attend. And while you're settling those plans, take advantage of Quest Software's 20% discount on the Thursday and Friday sessions requiring payment. Just be sure to use the code <strong>QST20 </strong>when you register.
The Saturday is free for everyone. Note - I said FREE. So if you're struggling to convince your boss of the value of the time off and cost required to attend these events, then at least plan to attend Saturday. But as you can see <a href="http://sqlbits.com/information/Pricing.aspx" title="Inexpensive and Affordable" target="_blank">here</a>, the prices are quite low compared to most other conferences of similar quality.
I firmly believe the standard for <a href="http://sqlbits.com/information/PublicSpeakers.aspx" title="SQL Bits Speakers" target="_blank">speakers</a> and <a href="http://sqlbits.com/information/Agenda.aspx" title="SQL Bits Agenda" target="_blank">content</a> at SQLBits is second to none in the UK. I'll be a wallflower in comparison to other friends of mine also speaking at the event, such as <a href="http://www.brentozar.com/" title="Brent Ozar Blog" target="_blank">Brent Ozar</a>, a MCM SQL Server and former colleague now working with SQLSkills, <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/buckwoody/" title="Buck Woody Blog" target="_blank">Buck Woody</a>, the well-known "Real World DBA" and senior technical specialist from Microsoft, as well as many other SQL Server MVPs, authors, and speakers, such as the event organizer, <a href="http://sqlblog.com/controlpanel/blogs/sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/" title="Simon says &quot;Go to SQLBits!&quot;" target="_blank">Simon Sabin</a>, and Quest Software SQL Server expert and editor-in-chief of SQLServerPedia, <a href="http://www.iainkick.com/archive/2010/08/sql-bits-7-massive-discount/" title="Massive Discounts, I say!" target="_blank">Iain Kick</a>. Some sessions I'm looking forward to include:
</div>
<ul>
<li><strong>Monitoring and Tuning Parallel Query Execution - Part II – R Meyyappan</strong></li>
<li><strong>Where the bl**dy h*** are you? (Spatial Data Visualisation) - Rob Farley </strong>(all the way from Adelaide, Australia)<strong>
</strong></li>
<li><strong>Introduction to Performance Analysis and Tuning – Simon Sabin</strong></li>
<li><strong>Oracle for SQL Server DBAs – Gavin Payne</strong></li>
<li><strong>Lies, Damned Lies And Statistics. Making The Most Out of SQL Server Statistics - Maciej Pilecki </strong></li>
<li><strong>Extreme scaling with SQL Azure – Martin Schmidt</strong></li>
<li><strong>Automating SSIS - Andre Kamman</strong></li>
</ul><div>
Attendance will definitely enhance your skills and ability to do your job. The added bonus is that York is a lovely place to visit with a beautiful and storied cathedral, so I highly recommend the event for all SQL Server professionals.
Prior to SQLBits, I'll be presenting in London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Stockholm. I hope you can attend an event closer to you if you cannot make it to York!
</div><div>&nbsp;</div><h2><em>And Just to Make Sure I'm Thoroughly Frozen...</em></h2></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div><a href="http://sqlsaturday.com/58/eventhome.aspx"><img src="http://www.teambuildinginc.com/images_cities/Minneapolis.jpg" class=" " alt="" width="484" height="392"></a></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>While I usually have a policy against visiting places cold enough to die between the front door and the mailbox, I'll be stopping in at SQL Saturday 58 in Minnesota for a SQL Saturday taking place on <em>Friday </em>(not a typo), October 29th, the day after my birthday. I'll be 21 years old and, since I'm now of legal drinking age, you should by me a drink. The event organizer, as well as my friend and fellow MVP, <a href="http://stratesql.com/" title="He's Promised to do a Polar Bear Dip in his skivvies for the event" target="_blank">Jason Strate</a>, just <span style="text-decoration:underline;">has </span>to be different by holding the event on a Friday, eh? Track the event on twitter using the hash tag #sqlsat58.
Read all the details <a href="http://sqlsaturday.com/58/eventhome.aspx" title="At least there's frozen custard!" target="_blank">here</a> and register asap!
</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Once finished in Minnesota, I'll barely get a breather in before heading right back out for the big <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/summit/na2010/" title="I'll be staying thru Saturday this year" target="_blank">PASS 2010 Summit</a> in Seattle from Nov 8 -11.
Hope to see you at one of these events soon!
</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Best regards,
</div><div>-Kevin
<a href="http://twitter.com/kekline" title="&gt;&gt;Skwawk Skwawk!&lt;&lt;" target="_blank"></a></div><div><a href="http://twitter.com/kekline" title="&gt;&gt;Skwawk Skwawk!&lt;&lt;" target="_blank">Twitter @kekline</a></div><div>More content at <a href="http://KevinEKline.com" title="Dat's a Spicy Meatball!" target="_blank">http://KevinEKline.com&nbsp; </a><br></div>
<br><div id="refHTML"></div>SQL Saturday is Coming to Nashville! Won't You?http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2010/05/17/sql-saturday-is-coming-to-nashville-won-t-you.aspxTue, 18 May 2010 05:42:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:25238KKline<h1>How 'Bout a Little Context?</h1>
<p>Let me be direct with you.&nbsp; I love <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/" title="The Object of My
Affectation, er, Affection" target="_blank">SQL Saturday</a>.&nbsp;
If it were a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000161/" title="Truth be told, if I'm gonna fantasize about
marrying the unattainable, it'd be this woman." target="_blank">woman</a>,
I'd marry it.&nbsp; (Avoiding all extraneous thoughts of what my <i>real </i>wife
would say, etc etc). </p><p>Check out this fun <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-i-k-e/sets/72157623750844255/" title="Flickr pickr
in Chicagr" target="_blank">Flickr Feed from the recent SQL Saturday in Chicago</a>
or <a href="http://twitpic.com/1g9q8j" title="@BrentO and I bustin' da rhymes!" target="_blank">these picks</a> by Jorge Segara (<a href="http://sqlchicken.com/" target="_blank" title="Neither feathered, nor delicious when battered and fried">blog</a>
| <a href="http://twitter.com/sqlchicken" target="_blank" title="He's like the San Diego Chicken, but for
SQL Server - oh and with less mascot equipment">twitter</a>) to see the sort of fun
that's in store.&nbsp; But who can argue with a day of free SQL Server
training and a chance to network with great presenters and a wide swath
of your peers?<br></p><p><br></p><div class="mceTemp mceIEcenter"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/m-i-k-e/4528329686/in/set-72157623750844255/.jpg"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/yo-mama-01.jpg" class="size-full wp-image-542 " title="Kevin &amp; Brent Keynote" alt="Kevin keynoting with Brent Ozar at the Chicago SQL Saturday" width="455" height="313"></a><br>Keynotes are more fun when the put-downs fly!</div><p><br></p>
<p>I've tried to support SQL Saturday as much as I can since Andy Warren
(<a href="http://www.sqlandy.com/" target="_blank" title="He's one of the original founders of
SQLServerCentral and is, in fact, so old that he signed the original
Articles of Confederacy">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/sqlandy" target="_blank" title="Not
to be mistaken for SQLOpey, SQLGomer, or other citizens of SQLMayberry">twitter</a>)
launched the program a couple years back and have spoken at several.&nbsp;
You might say to yourself, "Self, Kevin works for a <a href="http://sqlserver.quest.com/" title="The Most
Awesome Database Vendor on the Planet! Check Please..." target="_blank">vendor</a>. Don't they <i>want</i> him to speak at as
many SQL Saturdays as is humanly possible?"&nbsp; Well, Mr. Self, you'd be
mistaken.&nbsp; You see there's a keyword in the name that might reveal why
my employer doesn't provide unlimited enthusiasm for me to speak ...
it's the <i>SATURDAY</i> part of the whole thing.&nbsp; Yes, of course, my
employer wants me there.&nbsp; But they also recognize that Saturdays are my
own and that, if I spend a day or two there on the weekend (including
the travel time), then that's a sacrifice of my own choice.&nbsp; I would
still need to be at work and on task bright and early on Monday
morning.&nbsp; Not that they'd make me, it's just that my job is the sort
that work is never simply skipped, it is only ever <i>deferred</i>.&nbsp; So
if I took a comp day, which they'd gladly provide, I'd still have to
finish the work somehow, someway.&nbsp; All of this goes to say that I
really, really love SQL Saturday, the community vibe that it creates,
the volunteers who drive it, the folks who attend.&nbsp; So I'm happy to give
up a few days throughout the year to support it.</p><p><br></p>
<h1>Come to Nashville in August!</h1>
<h2>Guitar, Cowboy Boots, Cowboy Hat, and Tight Denim <u>NOT</u>
Required</h2>
<p>My good friends Joe Webb (<a href="http://webbtechsolutions.com/blog/" target="_blank" title="He's awesome,
despite being an Auburn fan and graduate.">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/joewebb" target="_blank" title="Follow Joe!">twitter</a>) and Louis Davidson (<a href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-admin/sqlblog.com/blogs/louis_davidson/default.aspx" target="_blank" title="Dr. SQL is his name and DB Design is his game
(Note: not a real doctor)">blog</a>
| <a href="http://twitter.com/drsql" target="_blank" title="They called him &quot;Dr Squeel&quot; in
medical school">twitter</a>) have been angling to host a
SQL Saturday here in Nashville for quite a while.&nbsp; As co-leaders of <a href="http://nashville.sqlpass.org/" target="_blank" title="Y'all come back now, y'hear?">the local PASS chapter in middle
Tennessee</a>, it made a lot of sense to host an event like this.&nbsp; I
wasn't at all resistant to the idea, I just didn't want to do the work
myself.&nbsp; However, they did a great job of getting the ball rolling and
even took on the majority of work themselves.&nbsp; Together with other
volunteers in our local chapter - Shelton Dickson, Roberto Lopez, and <a href="http://twitter.com/christinaleo" target="_blank" title="Her Italian-ness is extra zesty">Christina Leo</a> - we've all set
to work to host SQL Saturday #51. </p><p>The event will be hosted on
Saturday, August 21st at the shiny new facility of <a href="http://www.nscc.edu/" target="_blank" title="They're not even charging for these excellent facilities!">Nashville
State Community College</a> located at 120 White Bridge Rd. Nashville,
TN 37209:</p><p><a href="http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/schools/default.aspx?id=3224"><img src="http://www.tbr.state.tn.us/uploadedImages/Schools_and_Campuses/Community_College_Profiles/Nashville_State_Technical_Community_College/Nashville%20State%20Library%20and%20Student%20life.jpg" alt="Provided at No Charge by the Wonderful Folks at Nashville State
Community College" title="NCSS" class="aligncenter" width="200" height="170"></a><br></p><ul><li>If
you'd like to attend, check out all the details <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/51/eventhome.aspx" target="_blank" title="SQL Saturday in Nashville. What could be better, I ask?">here</a>.&nbsp; Joe Webb
and Christina Leo get all the credit for logistics.<br></li></ul><ul><li>If
you'd like to speak, read the details in our call for speakers <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/51/callforspeakers.aspx" target="_blank" title="Call for Presenters Who Can Say &quot;Y'all&quot;
is Open">here</a>.&nbsp;
Louis Davidson is running the program selection process.<br></li></ul><ul><li>If
you'd like to sponsor, sign up on-line <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/51/sponsors.aspx" target="_blank" title="In the
words of David Copperfield, &quot;Please sir, may I have
another?&quot;">here</a>.&nbsp; This one
is my responsibility.<br></li></ul><ul><li>It's free to register, there
is a $10 fee if you want us to provide lunch.&nbsp; And remember, <i>seats
always fill up fast!</i>&nbsp; </li></ul><ul><li>If you're going to attend
and you have a twitter account, be sure to tweet using #sqlsat51!&nbsp; </li></ul><p><br></p><h2 style="text-align:center;"><i>I hope
to see you there in August!</i><br></h2>Good News for Women in Technology - Barbie Has Joined the IT Scenehttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2010/03/10/good-news-for-women-in-technology-barbie-has-joined-the-it-scene.aspxWed, 10 Mar 2010 18:34:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:23109KKline<div class="mceTemp"><a href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/computer-engineer-barbie-cropped.jpg"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/computer-engineer-barbie-cropped.jpg" alt="" title="computer engineer barbie, cropped" class="size-full wp-image-466" height="288" width="224"></a><br><i>Notice the bluetooth ear piece fashion faux pas? Yes, she's truly a geek.</i>&nbsp;</div>I'm happy to report that Barbie is now a cognizeti, a digerati, ... yes even an IT Professional! This year's new Barbie is <i><a href="http://mashable.com/2010/03/09/computer-engineer-barbie/" title="Finally, a Barbie that's not a missionary for rampant consumerism." target="_blank">Computer Engineer Barbie</a>.</i>
<p>Several months back, I encouraged all my friends and followers on <a href="http://twitter.com/kekline" target="_blank" title="He's a Twit, er, Tweet, er, Twitterer.">Twitter</a> to <a href="http://www.barbie.com/vote/" target="_blank" title="New Barbie careers are subject to public voting. Glad it's not me!">vote for the IT job</a>
for Barbie in Mattel's recent public job selection for the eponymous
doll.&nbsp; That encouragement was founded in an experience I'd had years
earlier - becoming a dad to a very beautiful baby girl.&nbsp; When I was
growing up as a kid, I clearly recall how odd it was for a woman to
have a career outside of a handful of "traditional feminine jobs" like
teacher, nurse, telephone operator or secretary.&nbsp; It wasn't until years
later, as a new dad, that I realized how asinine this preconceived
notion really was (and, in fact, still is in many cultures around the
world). I even wrote about this a few years ago <a href="http://zebra-man.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html" target="_blank" title="KEK, the accidental feminist">in my personal blog</a>, where I mentioned how I'd love to see my daughters grow up and take on an IT career.</p><p>Sadly,
many IT professional societies report dramatic imbalances in gender
demographics.&nbsp; For example, the IEEE Computer Society reports that <a href="http://newsletters.computer.org/public/?q=ulink&amp;fn=Link&amp;ssid=9173&amp;id=2k1axr1pmhv3v7z0k15cbn0o3538h&amp;id2=iqzbbhnogct61jtprrg718347waom&amp;subscriber_id=cbcckretjmugahcqdvqbucdfcfgubnn&amp;delivery_id=bkfhmebnidgtecmtuygnileudnqgbmo" target="_blank" title="IEEE CS President's Message &lt;yawn&gt;">their membership is only 7% female</a>. Similarly, universities in the USA shows about a 10% representation of female faculty and 14% of their students in computer-related majors.&nbsp; <br>
</p><p>One of the things I'd always found to be rather amazing about <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org" target="_blank" title="The Professional Association for SQL Server">PASS </a>was
it's strong emphasis on Women in Technology (WIT).&nbsp; In fact, as far as
database professional societies go, PASS was the first to work hard to
make WIT prominent within its culture (although I believe that the
International Sybase User Group had a WIT group before PASS).&nbsp; I'd like
to also give credit to the women within PASS who made this happen.&nbsp; I
can't even begin to list them all here, but without them, WIT at PASS
would not have been possible.&nbsp; A few women who immediately come to mind
include Rebecca Laszlo, <a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/kalen_delaney/default.aspx" title="When Kalen talks, I snap to attention!" target="_blank">Kalen Delaney</a>, Denise McInerny, Kathi Kellenberger, Stefanie
Higgins, Lynda Rabb, Kimberly Tripp, and many many more.</p><p>All of
these outstanding women deserve accolades for making PASS a welcoming
place for women.&nbsp; Don't think that it's a big deal?&nbsp; You should attend
an IT conference without a strong WIT community - you'll see the
difference in 30 seconds flat.&nbsp; (I'm not going to name any names here.&nbsp;
But attend the top conferences for certain IT companies headquartered
in Redwood City, California or Armonk, NY and you'll see what I mean).</p><p>So, thank you ladies, for making PASS in particular and the overall Microsoft SQL Server community much better for <b><i>everyone</i></b>
by making it better for women.&nbsp; I hope to see this trend continue and
for your contributions to continue to improve our community.<br>
</p><p>-Kevin</p><p>-Twitter @kekline</p><p>-More content at http://KevinEKline.com <br></p><p></p><div id="refHTML"></div><div id="refHTML"></div><div id="refHTML"></div>PASS 2009 Lifetime PASSion Awardhttp://sqlblog.com/blogs/kevin_kline/archive/2010/02/03/pass-2009-lifetime-passion-award.aspxThu, 04 Feb 2010 01:23:00 GMT21093a07-8b3d-42db-8cbf-3350fcbf5496:21811KKline<h3>A HAPPY RETIREMENT</h3>
<p>January 1st, 2010 marked a very special day for me.&nbsp; It was the
first time in the past ten years in which I had no official PASS
responsibility at the HQ level.&nbsp; (I'm still serving in the local PASS
chapter here in Nashville, along with the awesomeness that is DrSQL (<a href="http://drsql.org/default.aspx" title="Not a physician..." target="_blank">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/drsql" title="Not a PhD either... But totally awesome nevertheless." target="_blank">twitter</a>) and the whackness that is Joe Webb (<a href="http://webbtechsolutions.com/blog/" title="He went to Auburn, but I still love him." target="_blank">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/joewebb" title="Hire Him! At WebbTechSolutions.com" target="_blank">twitter</a>).&nbsp;
We also have the irreplaceable Shelton Dickson and Roberto Lopez
helping us out).&nbsp; I also intend to stay active as a speaker for PASS.&nbsp;
I spoke at the PASS 2009 Summit, earning a <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/Events/BestOfSummit.aspx" title="Best of the PASS 2009 Summit" target="_blank">top presenter</a>
spot in the Professional Development track, and plan to speak there in
the future.&nbsp; And I'm also already booked for some upcoming Virtual
Chapter meetings as well as local PASS chapters and <a href="http://www.sqlsaturday.com/" title="Cuz there's nothing better on a Saturday!" target="_blank">SQL Saturdays</a>.</p>
<div class="mceTemp"><a href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/PASS-04.jpg"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/PASS-04-300x190.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-418" title="PASS 04" alt="" width="300" height="190"></a><br>10 Years on the Job Takes Its Toll</div><p>I
have to admit that I've been surprised by the number of friends and
acquaintances who've asked if I'll miss it.&nbsp; Isn't it obvious?&nbsp; Ten
years of long hours with zero pay and a heavy burden on family time
don't rest easily on your shoulders.&nbsp; I'm sure that PASS' first two
presidents, Pam Smith and Guy Brown, can corroborate my story - except
that they've taken a solemn oath never to speak words that includes the
letters S, Q, and L in a single sentence.&nbsp; That makes it really hard to
ask their opinion on much of anything these days.&nbsp; The heinous nervous
twitch that spasmodically attacks their left and right eye,
respectively, whenever they hear the words "Micro" or&nbsp; "Soft" uttered
in the same conversation is also telling...</p>
<p>All joking aside, I'm honestly very happy to leave PASS in the hands
of the next generation of leaders.&nbsp; For more a much more in-depth
discussion about my years on the PASS board of directors, check out <a href="http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/103205/sql_server_103205.html" title="Brian Moran and SQLMag - a great team" target="_blank">Brian Moran's interview for SQL Server Magazine here</a>.
The enthusiasm and passion demonstrated by the young turks on the board
of directors will keep the organization in stead for many years to
come.&nbsp; I'm also very pleased with the new emphasis on
community-connectedness (<a href="http://sqlserverpedia.com/wiki/Twitter" title="Dat's a tweet putty tat, a SQL putty tat!" target="_blank">thank you Twitter!</a>)
and openness (thank you bloggers!) sweeping the community.&nbsp; It's
already produced much goodness within PASS, which I expect to see
multiplied many times over in the future.</p>
<h3>A PARTING BOW</h3>
<p>I was amazed and surprised when, during the keynote of <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/LearningCenter/SummitOnDemand/Summit2009/Day3KeynoteBillGraziano.aspx" title="PASS 2009 Keynote, Day 3 - A Date that will live in Infamy" target="_blank">Day 3, Bill Graziano</a> called me on to the stage along with el presidente Wayne Snyder.&nbsp; PASS did an online postings in a few locations. The <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/Community/Volunteers.aspx" title="PASS couldn't do it without you - the volunteers" target="_blank">PASS Volunteers page</a> spotlights my award under the PASSion Awards section. Then, on the <a href="http://www.sqlpass.org/Community/Volunteers/PASSionAward.aspx" title="PASS Award Announcements" target="_blank">PASSion Award page</a>,
the award is the top featured article. This write-up includes a link to
the interview with Brian that I mentioned earlier.&nbsp; Funny story - I'd
been working in the PASS ready room on Day 2 of the Summit, feverishly
trying to improve my slide decks.&nbsp; At the exact same time, Bill and the
staff were also feverishly working on their slide deck a mere two seats
away - of the presentation to come on Day 3!</p>
<div class="mceTemp"><a href="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Picture36.jpg"><img src="http://kevinekline.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Picture36-300x247.jpg" class="size-medium wp-image-416 " title="lifetime passion award" alt="" width="300" height="247"></a><br>I had hair when I started this job. Just sayin'...</div><p>Normally,
I don't care very much about how my slides look and would've caught
Bill red handed in his sly surprise.&nbsp; But today was different because
I'd seen two ominous portents of doom - a ferret consorting with a
chicken (on Cartoon Network) and a woolly caterpillar crossing the
threshold of the Sheraton Hotel and Convention Center lobby.&nbsp; My keen
senses as an Oracle DBA kicked off an internal alarm that even 14 years
of SQL Serverness could not suppress - eminent disaster at the hands of
the demo gods was nigh.&nbsp; So once I got to the PASS ready room, I
equipped myself with several diet Mountain Dews, my favorite MP3 tunes
via massive ear-buds, and a bag of mixed nuts.&nbsp; Yes - I never knew, not
even for a second, that they were <i>talking about me</i>.&nbsp; Several hours later, as if waking from a daze, I realized that I didn't have any slide decks with demos.&nbsp; Clearly, <a href="http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/billg/" title="He is strong in the Force!" target="_blank">Graziano had stronger juju than I</a>.&nbsp; Next time, I'll directly <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divination" title="Reading the Future - about as accurate as horoscopes." target="_blank">divine the future using turtledove entrails</a>
- as all good Oracle DBAs are trained to do - rather than rely on those
pathetic woolly caterpillars like MS-Access developers recommend.&nbsp; [All
elements of the preceding story concerning divination are a blatant
lie.]&nbsp; But I digress...</p>
<p>At the Day 3 keynote, Bill and Wayne surprised me by calling me to
the stage and presenting me with the biggest award I'd ever personally
seen.&nbsp; I was gobsmacked.&nbsp; On top of that, the attendees gave me a
standing ovation for receiving the "Lifetime Passion Award" (no
relation to <a href="http://www.mylifetime.com/index.php" title="I'm not saying it's not good. It's just not for me." target="_blank">Lifetime "TV for Women"</a>).&nbsp;
Again, I was taken aback.&nbsp; Wayne had, evidently, intended on giving me
the mic to say a few words.&nbsp; But because he was a bit choked up, he
left the stage a bit earlier than he meant and never handed the mic to
me.&nbsp; Good thing too - I would've blubbered like a baby.</p>
<h3>A Special Word of Thanks</h3>
<p><i>Honestly, I can't thank you enough for your kindness as a community.</i>
I never got into PASS for any form of praise or profit.&nbsp; To have a hand
in the making of something bigger than me which reflected my own values
was all I ever hoped to achieve.&nbsp; And thank you again to all the
bloggers who had a kind word about the award as well:</p>
<ul><li>Sean and Jenn McGown, - (<a href="http://midnightdba.itbookworm.com/SQLPass09.aspx" title="They do other things at midnight too. But database administration is a big part of it." target="_blank">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/MidnightDBA" title="Chef, Akido Master, DBA" target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>AaronBertrand - (<a href="http://sqlblog.com/blogs/aaron_bertrand/archive/2009/11/05/blogging-from-the-pass-keynote-2009-11-05.aspx" title="Aaron's Excellent Blog" target="_blank">blog</a> | <a href="http://twitter.com/AaronBertrand" title="Mr Connect" target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>Jack Corbet - (<a href="http://wiseman-wiseguy.blogspot.com/2009/11/pass-summit-day-3-brain-on-overload.html" title="Wise Man? Wise Guy!" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/UncleBiguns" title="Is that Big Guns or Biguns?" target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>Kendal Van Dyke - (<a href="http://kendalvandyke.blogspot.com/2009/11/looking-back-pass-summit-2009-day-4.html" title="No relation to Dick Van Dyke" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/SQLDBA" title="He calls Orlando home." target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>Great photos from Pat Wright (<a href="http://insanesql.blogspot.com/2009/11/pass-pictures.html" title="I think we might have to call you SQLPhotog" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/SQLAsylum" title="Send him to the Asylum!" target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>Todd McDermid - (<a href="http://toddmcdermid.blogspot.com/2009/11/pass-summit-2009-recap.html" title="Todd's PASS Recap" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/Todd_McDermid" title="Known as &quot;Ironbelly McDermid&quot; at college fratboy drinking parties" target="_blank">twitter</a>)</li><li>Steve Jones - (<a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/steve_jones/archive/2009/11/5/pass-summit-opening-remarks-with-bill-graziano.aspx" title="Is it possible to use the words &quot;sexy&quot; and &quot;kilt&quot; in the same sentence, ask Steve!" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/SQLMusings" title="Considered using &quot;SQLHeWhoMustNotBeNamed&quot; on Twitter" target="_blank">twitter</a>) -</li><li>Andy Warren - (<a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/andy_warren/archive/2009/11/06/thanks-to-pass-board-members-finishing-up-their-terms.aspx" title="Read this blog! It's t'awesome." target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/SQLAndy" title="His Army crew called him &quot;Four-fisted Deuce Dropper&quot;" target="_blank">twitter</a>) and <a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/andy_warren/archive/2009/11/05/pass-day-3-pass-summit-2009.aspx" title="Another great post from Andy" target="_blank">here</a>.</li><li>Grant Fritchey - (<a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/scarydba/archive/2009/11/5/pass-summit-2009-key-note-1.aspx" title="Kilted but not jilted" target="_blank">blog </a>| <a href="http://twitter.com/gfritchey" title="The Scary DBA" target="_blank">twitter</a>) and <a href="http://www.sqlservercentral.com/blogs/scarydba/archive/2009/11/6/pass-summit-2009-day-3.aspx" title="More goodness from Grant" target="_blank">here</a>.</li></ul>
<p>This year was also a great year for <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44342262@N02/4077794975/" title="Photo 1" target="_blank">photos</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44342262@N02/4077794935/" title="Photo 2" target="_blank">like</a> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44342262@N02/4077794917/" title="Photo 3 - original, eh?" target="_blank">these</a>.&nbsp; If you know of any other mentions about the award that day back in November 2009, please post a comment here.</p>
<p>With a grateful heart to call you all friends...</p>
<p>-Kev</p>
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